A Potpourri of Love

Our friend Janina, from Germany, with Jephte, Fablandie and Benjamin at Bassin Bleu

When I look at the many people we’ve met here in Haiti over the years, it just amazes me.  We have made friends from all over the globe.  There is one common thread that unites us and that is a love for the people of Haiti.  This month we’ve heard from friends in the UK, Canada, Germany, Sri Lanka, Africa and, of course, America.  We received many greetings of love and well wishes for the new year, not only for ourselves, but for our brothers and sisters here in Haiti.  What a blessing!  Thank you all for your generosity and the overflow of love.

School

MOHI elementary school students gather to sing the Haitian National Anthem while the flag is being raised.

When I was a kid, school was the door to a social life.  I just loved school – at least until later in high school.  For my children, Alexis and A. Jay’s social life happens outside of school, so they’ve never been overly fond of having to go to school.  They both are plenty intelligent, but somehow interpreting for a visiting group holding a medical clinic or visiting homes in a village, leading a hike or joining a team for a swim has always seemed a bit more inviting.

In Haiti, it is a privilege for a child to go to school and by the time they are in first grade, every single one of them understands this.  They take great pride in having a uniform and a well bathed body.  Parents work hard to clean and press those uniforms, to braid their daughter’s hair and give their son’s short, well defined haircuts.  Early in the morning even the men are seen proudly accompanying their preschoolers to their classrooms.

Lex, Paul Fallon and Paul Beaulieu meet in one of the new classrooms

All of us can share in this sense of pride, as we work together to complete their new school building.  Tomorrow we start installing the electrical system.  Thank you so much to those who helped with purchasing the materials.  We are grateful to Paul Fallon and Paul Beaulieu for carrying some of these supplies into the country with them this week.  More will be coming down next week, when our long time friends Rick & Sue Scott and Ted & Nan Bronson join us here.  We will be ready to start painting classrooms soon, too.  If you are looking for a particular project to get behind, please consider making a donation so that we can purchase the primer and paint right here in Haiti.  

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Memorable Moments

A grill and other kitchen supplies are ferried to the island in boats

We had several fun moments this week.  We celebrated A. Jay’s 15th birthday on Wednesday.  It’s hard to imagine now that he was all of two years old when we came to Grand-Goâve!  Now he towers over me – and thoroughly enjoys it, of course.  We were blessed to have family (Gama, Angela, Nathan, Tony, Edna, Ben, Caleb, Claudeson),  foreign friends (Michelle, Andrew, Angie, Faith, Glory, Jonathan, Kervins), and local friends (too numerous to mention!) join us for a few hours together.  As you can see in the picture to the left, we used boats to move the kitchen out to the little island (Lilette) just off the coast of Grand-Goave.  Lilette is inhabited mostly by goats and songbirds.  We enjoyed BBQ chicken, French fries and some local seafood cooked over an open flame.  Leave it to us to be totally untraditional:  Angela baked a chocolate cake for A. Jay (his favorite), but we never sang “Happy Birthday” to A. Jay or cut the cake.  (Oops!)  He did enjoy it that evening, however!  Below are some pictures from the day.

A. Jay’s 15th birthday outing at Lilette

This week, Be Like Brit received their first orphan at the newly completed orphanage.  Three year old Kervins is a curious little fellow.  Program director, Jonathan LaMare, looks like a new parent each time I see him.  We enjoyed having them both join us at A. Jay’s birthday outing, as well as at church this morning.  He will be joining his peers in first-year preschool class soon.  We commend all of the staff at BLB for making this a good transition for Kervins.

You may recall Pastor Kalinsky and a team from the Full Gospel Interdenominational Church (Manchester, CT) visited us last year.  We also spent almost a week with them Stateside, this past October.  This week we received a large shipment from World Wide Lighthouse Missions, an outreach of this church.  This shipment included much needed school supplies, peanut butter and other items.  We are so grateful to the church, as well as the community, which donates to WWLM regularly, for providing these items for our students here in Haiti.  Gloria Harvell, one of MOHI’s directors, will be coming to Haiti next month and utilizing many of these supplies while working with our teachers.   I love the timing!

As always, church service this morning was a highlight of my week.  Pastor Josue from Port-au-Prince shared with us about the importance of reading the Bible (night and day – based on Josh 1:1-8) and giving (especially the tithe – Malachi 3:10).  The church was very responsive.  Besides the preaching and the wonderful time of praise and worship, I thoroughly enjoying seeing so many friends.

Mireille learned how to make my favorite dessert this week – makes me happy, for sure!

The Bus

The MOHI bus (from the Chapel, Akron, OH) parked in Port-a-Piment

I really want to give you a report on the bus that came to us from The Chapel in Akron, OH.  It has been so helpful!

The mother of a local policeman died a couple of weeks ago.  There were many people who wanted to attend the funeral, but it was being held in Port-a-Piment, way in the south of the country.  We were able to make the bus available so that many of the policeman’s relatives and co-workers, as well as some of the mission staff were able to attend the funeral.  The bus was used to bring 31 children to a museum in Port-au-Prince for a day and to pick up the items shipped to us from Manchester, CT.

We are so grateful for all who gave and sacrificed to get this bus (and all it was packed with!) to us here in Haiti.  Thank you!